xxxiv Saviour. Thus after its setting in darkness, it again came forth to the light; and to those who came to see, it afforded a manifest view of the history of the things done there, witnessing by facts more vocally than any voice the Saviour's resurrection. All this being done, immediately the Emperor by pious edicts and unsparing contributions, commands to build about the Saving Cave, a House of prayer, worthy of God, with rich and royal magnificence, having long proposed this, and contemplated the future with special eagerness ;-sending to the Governors of the Eastern provinces, by unsparing and loving contributions to accomplish an extraordinary, great, and rich work; and to the then Bishop of Jerusalem, [Macarius,] the following letter, &c. . . . . "First of all, he set about the decorations of the Sacred Cave itself, that divine monument, by which an Angel dazzling with light once told good tidings of the regeneration manifested to all through the Saviour. This then first, as the beginning of the whole, the Emperor's devotion enriched with choice pillars and much embellishment, beautifying it with ornaments of every sort. "Next he passed over an ample space opened to the sky; which was paved with shining stone, and surrounded on three sides with long porticos. "But on the fourth side which was opposite the Cave, and looked eastward, was added the Royal Temple, [the Basilica,] an extraordinary work, rising to an immense height, and spread out in exceeding length and width. The inner walls were covered with marble slabs of various colours, and the outside face of the walls, shining with polished stones closely fitted together, was a specimen of supernatural beauty not inferior to the look of marble. The roof without was protected with lead, as a defence against the weather; and the roof within was composed of carved fretwork, and by means of compartments stretched its vast expanse over the whole Basilica, and was covered throughout with resplendent gold, so as to make the whole Temple dazzling as with a blaze of light. "On each side ran a portico with two ranges along the length of the Temple, both above and under ground; and of this too the roof was enriched with gold. The outside ranges consisted of enormous columns; and the inside of quadrangular buttresses highly ornamented. Three handsome doors on the East let in the multitude who would enter. "At the opposite end, was the perfection of the whole work, a hemisphere, at the top of the Basilica; girt with twelve pillars according to the number of the Apostles of the Saviour, with capitals ornamented with large silver cups, which the Emperor himself gave as a most beautiful offering to his God. 66 Hence, as one goes forward to the entrances lying before the Temple, he interposed an open court; and on each side, first a hall, then porticos, and then hall doors. Next, reaching into the broad marketplace, was placed the vestibule of the whole tastefully fashioned, affording to those who were passing outside a striking view of the wonders within. "This Temple then the Emperor raised as a conspicuous Witness of the Saving Resurrection, beautifying it with rich and royal materials. And he embellished it with innumerable gifts of undescribable splendour, with gold, silver, precious stones of every kind; of which the exquisite workmanship in particular, whether in size, number, or variety, does not admit of being recounted here." (iii. 25—40.) A ground-plan of the Church and Basilica is subjoined : bi. e. the Apsis where the Altar was. A. The Anastasis, that is, the Church upon the site of the Holy Sepulchre; where S. Cyril delivered his last five Lectures. (Lect. xviii. 33.) The Holy Sepulchre was within a stone's cast of the top of Golgotha, on the southern side of the hill. It originally consisted of two caves, (Lect. xiv. 9.) an inner and an outer, of which the latter was destroyed by Constantine. The former, which he left, and, as it would appear, (vid. above note a on Lect. xiv. 9.) cut off from the main body of the rock, is shaped round outside like a horseshoe with the circular part towards the West, and is entered by the East. Inside it remains apparently in its ancient form of a trapezium; the roof can be touched with the hand, and on the North is an opening in the face of the rock, where our Lord's body seems to have been placed. The stone which had been placed at the mouth of the cave lay in S. Cyril's time near the Sepulchre whether within or without. (Lect. xiii. 39.) The Church built over the Holy Sepulchre was circular. B. Golgotha or Calvary, the place of our Lord's Crucifixion. The whole mount, including the site of the sacred buildings, was sometimes called Golgotha. (Vid. Lect. iv. 10. 14. xvi. 4.) Sometimes only its top where the Crucifixion actually took place, which was to the North of the Basilica of the Holy Cross. (Lect. xiii. 4.) It was without the walls of the ancient city, to the North of Mount Sion, and about a mile and a half to the West of the Mount of Olives; and in S. Cyril's time it was a wild desolate spot, some traces remaining of the garden in which the Sepulchre was situated. (Lect. xiv. 5.) C. The Basilica of Constantine, or Church of the Holy Cross, (Euseb. Laud. C. 9.) called also the Martyrium or Testimony, as being built close upon and in memory of our Lord's Passion; where S. Cyril delivered his first eighteen Lectures. The Basilica of the Holy Cross, lay to the West of the Holy Sepulchre, being connected with it by a court open above, paved with choice marble, and bounded on all but the West side with a portico. It lay higher than the court, from which it seems to have been entered by steps; and there were three doors at the entrance, through which the Holy Sepulchre and the summit of Golgotha were seen. Porticos ran along the North and South, and the Altar was at the West end. a. The Holy Sepulchre, with the entrance on the East. b. The open Court connecting the Anastasis or Church of the Holy Sepulchre, with the Basilica of the Holy Cross. c. Steps up to the Basilica. d. Entrances. e. Ambo, where was the place of reading Scripture and preaching. f. Altar. g. Bishop's Throne. h. Spring of water for the Baptistery. |